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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27748213">and I'll be loving you (for quite some time)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/sorryforthedead/pseuds/sorryforthedead'>sorryforthedead</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Good Place (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Marriage Proposal, you guys... this is So So sappy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 20:21:28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,290</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27748213</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/sorryforthedead/pseuds/sorryforthedead</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Eleanor had never thought about marriage. Well, she thought about it, but never for herself, and very rarely in a positive light. Her parents’ marriage had left a dampening effect on the whole concept, and few of her friends had actually gotten married, most of them being too busy partying, drinking, dating around. She supposes she was the bridesmaid of that ex boyfriend’s ex girlfriend, but that marriage had ended fast, and Eleanor had tried to avoid the fallout. Her only positive experience of marriage was Janet and Jason, and they were quite the couple to base all her confidence in. </p>
<p>All this being said, the idea crosses her mind more than she can say, given everything that’s happened and the people she’s met. </p>
<p>Most importantly, Chidi. </p>
<p>or </p>
<p>Eleanor Shellstrop never thought she'd get married, but Chidi changes pretty much all her preconceived notions.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Chidi Anagonye/Eleanor Shellstrop</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>46</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>and I'll be loving you (for quite some time)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>hey folks, here I am with a cheleanor fic that was living rent free in my head. there is simply not enough fics of them together in the good place before the events of the finale and so here I am, starting my campaign to add more. thanks to Kayla and Betta for reading this before I posted it, and to Sham for suggesting a title. I hope you enjoy, and kudos and comments are always appreciated.</p>
<p>The lyrics from the title are from the Taylor Swift song (not surprising) Stay Stay Stay, and I do not own that song, nor do I own The Good Place, its character or any of the plotlines mentioned</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Eleanor had never thought about marriage. Well, she thought about it, but never for herself, and very rarely in a positive light. Her parents’ marriage had left a dampening effect on the whole concept, and few of her friends had actually gotten married, most of them being too busy partying, drinking, dating around. She supposes she was the bridesmaid of that ex boyfriend’s ex girlfriend, but that marriage had ended fast, and Eleanor had tried to avoid the fallout. Her only positive experience of marriage was Janet and Jason, and they were quite the couple to base all her confidence in. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>All this being said, the idea crosses her mind more than she can say, given everything that’s happened and the people she’s met. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Most importantly, Chidi. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Chidi, and their relationship, his commitment to her </span>
  <em>
    <span>forever</span>
  </em>
  <span> in the Good Place. She never thought she’d get something like this, never in a million years. Every time he looks at her, smiles at her, kisses her, she can feel the love radiating from him, and it blows her mind. She doesn’t have a goddamn clue how she got so lucky, but everyday she’s thankful for him, thankful for Michael and Janet and the judge and even fucking Shawn and all the powers that be for bringing them together. She never in a million years thought she, who thought she was incapable of loving and being loved in return until him, would be in a relationship like this. Chidi really was everything, and because of him, marriage crossed her mind more often than she cares to admit.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Her mind drifts to the idea of binding Chidi to her forever, and it brings a smile to her face. She’s not sure why the legality matters, really, given the promises they’ve already made to each other, they have forever and they’ve pledged it, but something in Eleanor desires the party, desires the ceremony and the sheet of paper, everything to prove that this is </span>
  <em>
    <span>real</span>
  </em>
  <span>, that it’s solid and definable and out there for everyone to see. She imagines Chidi, nervous about choosing an ice cream flavour or a movie for their night in or literally anything, playing with his hands, finding his wedding band, and twisting it along his finger. She imagines him kissing her on their wedding day, she imagines their first dance, probably to </span>
  <em>
    <span>Unforgettable</span>
  </em>
  <span>, the sparkling look in his eyes as he admires her. She imagines the very feeling of knowing he literally signed his life away to her, and she cannot lie, everything about it is incredibly endearing. She </span>
  <em>
    <span>wants </span>
  </em>
  <span>it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They’re lying in bed on a sunny Sunday morning when it comes to her again. It strikes her, like some sort of warm intrusion in her heart, and she knows she needs to say something. Eleanor has always been a bit impulsive, so it’s not surprising that it comes out like this. “Marry me,” she says, not bothering to raise her head from his chest.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Immediately she feels him tense. It’s not an unfamiliar feeling, Chidi tended to be a bit tense due to the consistent anxiety, but it still scares her. He had been completely relaxed underneath her, the tension was clearly coming from the question at hand. What if she was the only one feeling this way? What if he didn’t want this, didn’t feel the need to make this commitment when the words were already spoken? Eleanor waits, almost feeling the gears churning in his head. “What?” he asks, his voice quiet, but audibly shaken.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She tries not to take offence to this, hopes that it’s just that he’s taken off guard. “Well,” she says, sucking in a deep breath, “I asked you to marry me.”</span>
</p>
<p><span>Chidi adjusts, turning so she slides off his chest and they can look into each other’s eyes. She mourns the comfortable cuddling position (once again, that was never something she ever thought she’d say, but she </span><em><span>loves</span></em><span> cuddling with him), but it’s good to see what he’s thinking. His eyes have always been incredibly expressive, it’s easy for her to just look into them and know right away how he’s feeling. Lately, those eyes had read </span><em><span>love and</span></em> <em><span>adoration</span></em><span> on an almost constant loop, and right now is no different except for the abundant </span><em><span>confusion</span></em><span> written clearly across his face. It doesn’t seem to be bad, but she’s nervous all the same. “Wow,” he says.</span></p>
<p>
  <span>Eleanor can’t help but smile a bit, the speechlessness from her boyfriend was rare, usually he talked through all his problems, but right now, her question had rendered him silent. It was a proud feat, but it also led to issues. She wanted to know if he wanted that too, and she couldn’t figure out that with these one word answers. “So…” she says, dragging out the word, reaching for Chidi’s hand and giving a comforting squeeze.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He looks at her for a moment, and then closes his eyes, breathing deeply. “You want to get married?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She looks at him, wondering if her words had gotten mixed up somewhere in his genius brain. “Uh, yeah,” she says, hesitating, “is that so hard to believe?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Chidi meets her eyes, a small smile on his face. “No… I mean… I guess,” he says, his voice still the slightest bit shaky, “I just wasn’t really expecting it, I suppose, I mean, I know you Eleanor, I’ve known you for three hundred years, I know about your parents, about your past, and well I tho—” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Chidi,” she says, interrupting him, “you didn’t expect it, okay, I didn’t really expect to want this either. But I do. I want it so bad. So, I just need to know. Do you want this too?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His smile widens, and it’s soft and sunny and it makes her heart jump in her chest. Suddenly the nerves begin to fall away, there’s no need to be scared when he’s smiling at her like that. “Eleanor,” he says with an unparalleled amount of love, something Eleanor never expected her name to be laced with, “of course, I would absolutely love to marry you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He says it with such certainty, with no hesitation, like it’s the only thing he’s ever been sure of, and it makes her almost giddy. Chidi has never been sure of anything, and yet lately, he’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>always</span>
  </em>
  <span> been sure of her. She can’t express how </span>
  <em>
    <span>special</span>
  </em>
  <span> it makes her feel, how much it reassures her that they’re perfect, that the two of them are soulmates in whatever way is possible. They’ve both never been sure of love, never been in a relationship where marriage could even be a possibility, but here, right now, just the two of them, there’s not even a single doubt. This is right. It couldn’t be wrong if she tried. “No takesies backsies,” she says, and she immediately regrets it. She just got engaged, and that was her response?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Chidi just laughs though, his smile somehow getting impossibly wider. “I don’t want to take it back Eleanor, I love you, I want to be with you for… literally forever, and I’d really like it to be official,” he says, and she loves him, she loves him so fucking much.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I love you too,” she says, squeezing his hand, “I love you so much. I am so glad I tricked you into being in love with me forever.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No trick baby,” he says, kissing her hand, “I fell so, so willingly.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Eleanor doesn’t have any other response for that, all she can do is close the gap between them, and kiss him absolutely silly. Chidi is a man of words, Eleanor is a woman of action, and she wants to respond to his wonderful words with her favourite action. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>really hope you liked it, as always kudos and comments are much appreciated, you can find me on tumblr, bishellstrop, or on twitter bisheIlstrop (with an i!) and keep an eye out for more cheleanor fics, they may come.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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